Japan monks show you can skip in a robe

04/01/2019

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Japanese monks are now showing off how agile they can be while dressed in their robes Japanese monks have been skipping, skating and juggling to show how unrestrictive their traditional attire is.It comes after a monk was fined by police for driving while wearing a kimono because it “could…

Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption Japanese monks are now showing off how agile they can be while dressed in their robes

Japanese monks have been skipping, skating and juggling to show how unrestrictive their traditional attire is.

It comes after a monk was fined by police for driving while wearing a kimono because it “could affect safe driving”, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun.

He has refused to pay the traffic ticket of 6,000 yen ($55; £43).

And the Buddhist community has come out to show its support online.

Monks have been posting videos of themselves on Twitter doing agile acts with the hashtag “I can do this in monks’ robes”.

The monk was stopped by police last September while on his way to a Buddhist memorial service in Japan’s Fukui province, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported.

The article in the Yomiuri was published in December and seems to have sparked the now viral hashtag.

According to Yomiuri, The officer reportedly said that the “sleeves and length” of his robes would affect his driving.

Road traffic law prohibits the driving of a vehicle in clothes that may affect safe driving, but not all Buddhist monk robes are subject to the violation, Yomiuri cited an official as saying, leaving the rules vague.

The monk, who has not been named but described as in his 40s, said he had been driving for 20 years in monks robes and had never been fined.

He could face trial under local traffic laws if he does not pay the traffic fine.